4.28.2012
women in advertising.
i'm gonna tell you a secret. i often look at the blogs of other women and think: i wish i could be more like them. i wish i could post more photos. i wish i could just present the happy image of myself. i wish i always looked good and put-together and vibrant.
and then, i remember that that's only part of their truth. the truth they wish to share. and i don't begrudge them that, not at all. it is everyone's right to put into their space that which they want to.
and thank goodness for that.
while it's often that truth that i wish to share, it's not the truth i know how to share. and probably, even if i was able, i'd get bored of it in no time.
i sometimes wish i didn't post stuff like this--stuff that seems more soapbox than anything else. but then, a part of me reals and goes, yeah soapbox but... still deserving of a platform--still needing to be heard. still important.
and because this is my space, and because i want to remember what i was thinking and feeling and being shaped by in my twenties, i am gonna post soapbox stuff. and write about goldfish filled purses. and not post pictures for months at a time because i'm feeling not terribly pretty. it's all a work in progress. nothing's perfect. no one's perfect. and no one blog, no one post, no one essay, or even collection of writings is the whole truth.
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34 comments:
That's a great clip! I used to work with teenage girls and taught them life skills lessons (anger management, stress, etc) and one of big things we pushed for was body image. We showed them this clip and loads of girls were shocked that the models didn't really look like that in real life.
I think that is important to remember with blogging as well. Most bloggers are always putting their best face forward, and it's easy to trick the mind to think they're better than us.
Awesome post! Thank you for sharing! I enjoyed watching that video. I mean, most of us women know that the images on the covers of magazines, and in ads, etc.. are photoshopped and fake, but somehow we still feel inferior to those women. So this was definitely a great reminder for me!
thank you, thank you, thank you. for posting this. c:
thank you for posting this....it's a wonderful reminder that we all have our flaws and it's perfectly fine to be flawed. i'm a new blogger and i have felt the pressure to put only my happy face out there in blog-land, but in the end i feel a bit fake. my life is a very happy one, but i also have some pretty crappy times as well. that's REAL life. again, thanks for this post.
This is great. I've often contemplated removing all mirrors from my home whenever I have kids. They don't need to spend time looking in mirrors and analyzing their flaws...all they need is the affirmation from family and friends that they are beautiful and worthy and I think their self-esteem would be much healthier.
For the record, I love all of your posts, whether they're soapboxes or photos or whatever. You have an authentic way of blogging that also resonates with me, and I love that you continue to strive to be yourself.
what an incredible video clip. thank you for posting.
thank you for posting this video! i re-posted it over on my blog - i think this is such an important message to get out to people.
http://tuyyo2you.blogspot.com/
you know what? i have often thought that one reason i enjoy your blog so much is that you don't spam us with tons of perfect photos. you write. and when you happen to have some pictures, you share them. i wish other bloggers would write more and not rely on photos to fill up posts.
thanks for blogging with integrity.
for the past year i've ben looking into this area (women/advertising) and have found some wonderful resources.
here is one:
http://theillusionists.org/
they are making a documentary and on this website they also have a blog, which posts some pretty shocking facts and articles.
:)
for the past year i've ben looking into this area (women/advertising) and have found some wonderful resources.
here is one:
http://theillusionists.org/
they are making a documentary and on this website they also have a blog, which posts some pretty shocking facts and articles.
:)
:o)
i think your blog comes pretty close to perfect in my opinion actually...but I completely understand what you mean.
Love this. Thank you, and bless Kate Winslet :)
I do it, too. A few weeks ago, I revamped my bookmarks toolbar so that it only featured sites and blogs that did NOT make me feel like I was doing it wrong. It being life.
Good on you for being so honest with yourself and your readers.
I don't have a blog, but have wanted to create one for a while now. Part of the reason I don't have one is because I don't feel like I'm pretty enough, interesting enough, etc. in comparison to other bloggers. And fear in being adequate prevents me from doing what I want to do. It's something I'm working on. Regardless, when I read your blog I am not bombarded with a perfect image of a perfect life that I just must not be good enough to have myself. When I look through other blogs, sometimes (most times if I'm being honest) I am comparing and while I don't fault other people for having what they have, I do often come away feeling like I'm doing something wrong because I don't have a, b, or c at 24 years old.
Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that no, you may not post a hundred photos a week or about a perfect life, but you do post in a genuine way and that means more than any pretty picture does. I so admire your willingness to share the good and the bad on this blog. And I easily prefer it to the countless others that shy away from the gritty issues of life in favor of parading the pretty parts. You're an inspiration!
Fear of being inadequate would be the correct wording.
And by the way, you are also quite beautiful--inside and out!
My mom sent me a link to this clip a few weeks ago. Stunning. It's not new information; we all know that the women we see on magazine covers are digitally enhanced, but it's something we sometimes need to remind ourselves of.
Like any power, the power of advertising can be used for good or evil. As a woman with a passion for public health who just graduated with a degree in advertising, I see the way the world is going and hope to stand for something and use the power of advertising for good.
To be honest, your admittance of your imperfection makes you even closer to perfection in my eyes.
Don't ever stop writing your REAL self. Seriously.
Real=better.
xoxo,
Sierra
Oh, Just Living the Dream
The reason you have so many followers is because of your "soap-boxy" stuff. It's refreshing to read a blog that doesn't cover itself with make up, and tells the story of the blogger the way it really is. People relate to you more because they feel you have an understanding of them at a deeper level, not just understand what they like to look at.
Sara xx
branchesofthought.blogspot.com
I loved this. Thanks so much for sharing!
I love it that I always seem to learn something when I come to your little space on the big world wide web.
Thanks for that!
THANK YOU.
Wonderful video and a necessary reminder to me. I'm too prone to getting down on myself about these sorts of things. Thanks for sharing-
I wrote much less gracefully about this very thing just a few days ago.
I love that your blog says what your heart thinks. Even when you are expressing something that is frustrating for you, you portray yourself so beautifully. That is way better than a pretty picture any day.
this was really interesting. thanks for sharing.
I admire you in this regard, and have referred to your writing as I have wrestled with vulnerability in my own blog posts. I tend to express the most when I'm feeling good about life, but I'm learning to share the beauty that comes from the depths of darkness - or more so the rise from the depths. This is where the beauty reveals itself, but it cannot fully be revealed without the contrast of before.
Always happy blogs not only get boring to the writer, the reader too. Mine is generally happy... or at least urging myself to remember how to get myself back to calm in anxiety-filled moments... I want to remember those "at my wits end" moments... and remember how I coped too. And I want my daughter to read them... so she will know, no matter how well I hid it from her, I had my moments... so it's okay for her to have her moments too. <3 Be you. You're your best in your own skin. And clearly... we all think so too.
You are absolutely right about that. And I can relate to what you say here - A LOT. I think we are always a work in progress - I don't think we are ever done growing, learning, shaping who we are and how we think. And thank goodness for that, too :-)
you're awesome!
I feel that!
I love Jean Kilbourne. I hope her trail continues to blaze. I am so glad you shared this.
Sometimes I never want to blog again. Because it becomes an affirmation fest - and I don't wish to only identify myself by the kind things people say about the only things I want to post.
Thank you for being honest - and transparent. Most of the time, I feel the persona I've created for myself on my blog is similar to Nanny from the Muppet Babies. Kind of enigmatic. Unintentionally - perhaps equal parts self-preservation and sometimes insecurity.
Did I just word vomit all over? Yes I did.
How wonderful for you to be a human! Celebrate that. Continue writing. It's a treasure many don't have.
Oh, Meg. You should know that sometimes I wonder if I should post more pictures, too. If that is what it "takes"...whatever that means. And you know what I tell myself?? "Meg doesn't post a bunch of pictures [even though, when you do, I always think you are so beautiful], she just rests in the strength of her writing." And that's what I want to do. Be strong and know your words are enough. They are not enough for everyone else :). Good writing is a gift! You are using it. And I like your "soap box stuff".
thank you for posting this- and it was so refreshing to read- especially when I've been feeling a bit like the blogging world is full of pretty popular girls in a clique and whose lives are perfect. I love your real honest words.
Thanks for linking this video clip.
This is a subject I feel so passionately about, the fact that young girls today just don't stand a chance of ever learning that they are beautiful no matter how much they weigh, what color their hair is, whether they are popular or not...
I'm linking to this post on my blog...
http://krysworld.blogspot.com/2012/05/on-my-soapbox.html
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